NYT Connections today — my hints and answers for Tuesday, January 21 (game #590)

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #590) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• MINIATURE
• OCTOPUS
• CRACK
• PEPPER
• SLIGHT
• SALT
• DIG
• SAND
• DOLL
• WHO
• SHOVEL
• FIGURE
• PLOW
• BARB
• MODEL
• NO

NYT Connections today (game #590) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Belittle
• GREEN: Tiny version 
• BLUE: Slush clearance 
• PURPLE: Famous docs

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #590) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: PUTDOWN
• GREEN: SMALL LIKENESS 
• BLUE: USED TO CLEAR SNOW 
• PURPLE: DOCTORS IN POP CULTURE

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #590) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #590, are…

• YELLOW: PUTDOWN BARB, CRACK, DIG, SLIGHT
• GREEN: SMALL LIKENESS DOLL, FIGURE, MINIATURE, MODEL
• BLUE: USED TO CLEAR SNOW PLOW, SALT, SAND, SHOVEL
• PURPLE: DOCTORS IN POP CULTURE NO, OCTOPUS, PEPPER, WHO

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• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

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The second I cast eyes upon WHO and NO I knew that we were looking for DOCTORS IN POP CULTURE. PEPPER was an easy spot (easier than drinking it, anyway) but the fourth was trickier, not being a fan of the whole Marvel multiverse – but OCTOPUS sort of sounded like a villain of some kind.

Having got the Purple group first I thought that would make the Yellow group easier to solve; I came close to completing THINGS TO CLEAR SNOW, but instead found all four PUTDOWN words and the green SMALL LIKENESS quartet.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

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Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, 20 January, game #589)

• YELLOW: TAKE ON, AS A RESPONSIBILITY ASSUME, BEAR, HANDLE, SHOULDER
• GREEN: CORNERS ANGLE, BEND, CROOK, ELBOW
• PURPLE: SHEET BALANCE, CHEAT, COOKIE, FITTED
• BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH POPEYE ANCHOR, FOREARM, PIPE, SPINACH

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What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.